NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender prospect Cash Christie goes through warmups ahead of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Saskatoon Blades on Nov. 23 at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Cash Christie is getting an early taste of the Western Hockey League.
The 15-year-old goaltender has been with the Medicine Hat Tigers since Nov. 21, flying into Edmonton after starter Harrison Meneghin went down with a lower-body injury.
The 20-year-old Meneghin left in the first period of a 3-2 overtime win Nov. 20 at Prince Albert over the Raiders, and has not played since, being marked as week to week in the latest WHL weekly report. That’s allowed Christie to back up 17-year-old Jordan Switzer for the last five games, including Wednesday night at Swift Current against the Broncos.
“It’s been awesome, being up here is a super great experience,” Christie said. “I have learned a lot.”
Christie was selected in the fourth round, 83rd overall by the Tigers in the 2024 WHL draft, appearing in half a preseason game where he made 11 saves. Since that preseason contest on Sept. 3, the North Vancouver, B.C. product has been playing at the U18 level in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League.
Christie has appeared in eight games for St. George’s School, with a 4-2-1 record, a 3.53 goals against average and a .891 save percentage. He played a majority of last season at the U15 level, mixing in a couple games at U17. Christie has noticed the jump this season from U15 to U18 and the larger jump being alongside the Tigers.
“Just the details of everybody is pretty elite,” Christie said. “The work ethic and just what they do on and off the ice.”
While Christie hasn’t worked into a game yet, and likely won’t unless Switzer goes down with an injury, head coach Willie Desjardins has liked what he’s seen from the affiliate net minder in practice. He hopes Christie sees what the WHL level is like and learns from it.
“It’s so important for young guys to see the level they have to get to, because if you don’t see the level, then you don’t know what you have to work for,” Desjardins said. “So for him, it’s just take it all in and say, ‘This is what I have to do, this is what they do if they want to be players.’
“It’s just to learn from the experience. It’s a great chance for him and he’s been good in practice, so it’s good to see.”
The young, but now elder Switzer has enjoyed working with the younger net minder. He says it reminds him of how much he has grown and also how much he can pass on as others have to him.
“He’ll do excellent things in this league,” Switzer said about Christie. “It’s cool to have that mentorship role at a young age here, it’s just cool giving a pointers, see what he can kind of do.”
Christie has played in some large moments early in his season, suiting up in four games for Team B.C. at the WHL Cup in late October. He was the Tigers’ lone prospect at the tournament and put on quite a show, with a 2-1 record, a .917 SV% and a 2.41 GAA. He recorded a 41-save shutout over the eventual champion Team Alberta, also earning all-star honours in the tournament.
“It was a really cool experience,” Christie said. “I really liked our team, unfortunately we lost in the semis but it was a great tournament.”
